Friends of the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge
Grants Awarded
The Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge (LVNWR) intends to restore the Meadowlark Trail, which has suffered damage due to lack of funds and staff. The restoration project will focus on resurfacing the trail to meet ADA compliance, adding informative signages, increasing seating areas, creating an overlook, and erecting safety barriers around historically important structures. This revitalization will enhance accessibility for visitors, protect the delicate ecosystem, and preserve historic remnants, offering a rich, safe, and inclusive experience for all trail users.
Founded in 2004, the Friends of Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge’s (FLVNWR) mission is to support the goals of the Las Vegas National Refuge Complex to preserve, protect and restore biological diversity and historical resources of the refuge landscape, while providing opportunities for wildlife-dependent outdoor recreation, education, interpretation, and scientific research. Over the past twenty-two years the FLVNWR and the Refuge have successfully created and run successful educational programs together including the Fall Flight Festival in each November and year-round programs for children and adults. The Friends have also worked with the Refuge on a number of projects including our Summerfest project when we reopened the Refuge and the Visitor Center after the pandemic and the major fires and flooding that this area experienced in 2022/23; a mural project for the Visitor’s Center where the mural artist worked with 60 middle school students from area schools completed in 2025; provided the funding for the creation of a Wildlife Trailer with a working watershed exhibit that will visit area schools and community events being created in 2026 and funded by our local community foundation and the FLVNWR; raised the funding for and creating a major Pollinator Garden at the entrance to the Visitor Center in 2025 funded by New Mexico State University; and many other activities and programs.